This blog is about architecture, urbanism, neighborhoods, historic preservation and other elements of the physical environment(s) of Central New York, including Syracuse and its many surrounding towns, villages, farms and natural features.

For readers in the Central New York area, this Sunday morning, December 8th, I'll be giving an illustrated talk at Temple Adath Yeshurun in Syracuse at 10:00 a,m, Admission is free. Come a little early for coffee and chitchat. The
venue is special. Temple Adath is one of the last synagogues designed
by modern master Percival Goodman, and it is also one of the very best -
and certainly most striking - of modern buildings in Central New York. You don't have to be Jewish to be interested in synagogue
architecture, and you don't need to be Jewish to want to visit this
building.

Arise and Build: American Synagogues & Jewish Identity

In
the last hundred years, American Jews have built synagogues at a rate
never seen in the world before, and in the process they have integrated
the synagogue into the American landscape, and Judaism into the American
cultural mainstream. This illustrated lecture explores the evolving
form and meaning of American synagogue in the 20th century, shaped by
architects and their congregational patrons. Through synagogue design,
we trace changes in the organization of the American Jewish community
and its relationship to American culture as a whole. The location,
size, shape, and stylistic language adopted for synagogue designs
throughout the century is a reflection of the changing needs and values
of American Jews.

Temple Adath has interest inside and out, and the entire plan -
combining myriad practical and utilitarian functions with large worship,
social and educational spaces - is worth study. Goodman is often noted
- and I have recently done so myself (see recent post about Herbert Ferber and Ibram Lassaw)
- for his signature design elements such as sharp angles, natural
materials (especial brick and wood) and the abundant incorporation of
modern art in his designs - but he also excelled as a site and
facilities planner. He had a good sense of building siting, the
relationship of parts for function and aesthetic and emotional effect,
and how to develop interesting spatial progressions.

The
evolution of Temple Adath Yeshurun as a congregation, and as a series
of buildings, is a good illustration of the development of American
synagogues common throughout the country (I develop this theme further
in an essay titled The Continuing Exodus
written for an exhibition about urban synagogues a few yeas back).
Temple Adath was an offshoot in 1870 from an existing congregation (New
Beth Israel, commonly known as The Grape Street Shul). Congregation
Adas Yeshurun received a New York State charter in 1872, and the members
then bought a house o Mulberry Street to use as a place of worship.
They erected a new building on the site in 1878. This building remained
in use until the congregation moved in 1922 to an imposing classical
structure (designed by Gordon Wright) slightly further east on South
Crouse Avenue and Harrison Street (now the Hotel Skyler). At that time the name was changed to Temple Adath Yeshurun.

Fifty
years later, in 1971, the congregation dedicated its present home on
Kimber Road at the eastern edge of the City of Syracuse. Design by
Percival Goodman, it includes impressive ritual and decorative artwork
by Dorothy Reister. Some of the stained glass window panels from the 1922 building were moved and installed at Kimber Road.

About Me

Samuel D. GruberI am a cultural heritage consultant involved in a wide variety of
documentation, research, preservation, planning, publication, exhibition
and education projects in America and abroad.
I was trained as a medievalist, architectural historian and
archaeologist, but for 25 years my special expertise has developed in
Jewish art, architecture and historic sites. My various blogs about Jewish Art and Monuments, Central New York and Public Art and Memory allow me to
clear my email and my desk, and to report on some of my travels, by
passing on to a broader public just some of the interesting and
compelling information from projects I am working on, or am following.
Feel free to contact me for more information on any of the topics
posted, or if you have a project of your own you would like to discuss.

My Upcoming CNY Talks and Tours

Wednesday, Feb 5, 2014 1:00 pm (check for details) Syracuse Stage 820 E. Genesee Street Syracuse, NY 13210 Divided Loyalties: Jews and the Civil War In conjunction with performances of the play The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez I will discuss the involvement of Jews in the Civil War - on the North and south, and something about the often ambivalent Jewish attitude toward American slavery at the time.

Sunday, Feb 16, 2014 11:30 am Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas Great Synagogues of the World Jews are the “People of Book”, but surprisingly to many, they are also “People of the Building.” Given the opportunity, Jews have built beautiful synagogues for their communities for hundreds of years. Inspired by the detailed architectural accounts in the Bible, and also by their contemporary surroundings, Jews in many places have fulfilled the concept of Hiddur Mitzvah (glorify the commandment) through architecture and architectural decoration. Great synagogues have been built in Europe of since Middle Ages, but especially since the lavish inauguration of the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam in the late 17th century the stream of impressive Jewish buildings has continued with little interruption on every inhabited continent throughout the world. This lecture illustrates this architectural and artistic heritage with historic and contemporary images, and traces its survival in the 21st century with special emphasis on lesser known “great synagogues,” on recently restored buildings, and on some of the newest synagogues built.